New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s decision to recall old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has led to chaos in the country. At least 25 deaths has been reported in a week so far as India queues up outside banks.
A week after the announcement was made, people have flocked to ATMs and banks to exchange and deposit their notes. The ATMs saw unprecedented crowds with serpentine lines spilling on to the roads.
According to the Prime Minister his decision has helped the poor sleep peacefully even as the rich are rushing to chemists to buy sleeping pills, on ground the reality seems to be other way round.
Huffington Post has reported 25 cases in which underprivileged has suffered as they thought that all their hard-earned money that they had collected over time is now useless after the government’s new currency revamp scheme.
1) Lack of money hit a family in Mahua Mafi village in Uttar Pradesh. An eight-year-old died after her father was unable to pay for the petrol while rushing her to a hospital. Since the man was carrying a Rs 1,000 note, the petrol pump attendant refused to take it.
2) In Surat, a 50-year-old woman killed herself as she could not buy ration to feed her two children. The local shopkeeper refused to accept the old notes.